Rotary engine.



E. P. GIROD/ ROTARY ENGINE APPLICATION FILED AUG. 20, 1912.

Patented Aprfl l, 1914. 1 WLZQ 4 BHBEISfSHEBT 1.

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v Patented Apr. 14, 1914;

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WIT/(E8858 ATM/M1578 E. F. 'GIROD.

ROTARY ENGINE.

A'PIfLIQATION FILED AUG. 20, 1912.

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E. PS GIROD.

ROTARY ENGINE.

APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 20, 1912.

Patented Apr. 14, 1914.

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EDGAR FLIGH GIROID, 0F MONROE, LOUISIANA.

ROTARY ENGINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 14, 1914.

Application filed August 20, 1912. Serial No. 715,974.

To all whom it may cone-cm:

Be it known that I, EDGAR FLIGH Gnaon, a citizen of the United States, and a resldent of Monroe, in the parish of Ouachita and State of Louisiana, have made certain new and useful Improvements in Rotary Engines, of which the following is a speciiication.

My invention relates to rotary engines,- and it consists in the combinations, con-. structions, and arrangements herein de-' scribed and claimed.

An object of my invention is to provide a novel form of device which will rotate in either direction by merely turning the valves of the intake and exhaust pipes,

A further object of my invention 1s to provide a rotary engine having a noveli form of valve operating mechanism.

A further object of my invention is to. provide a novel rotary engine having a pair. of pistons acted on alternately at points 180 apart.

A further object of my invention is to provide a rotary engine in which the parts are comparatively few in number, but which are strong and durable and not liable to easily get out of order.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specification and the novel features of the device will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

My invention is illustrated in the accom panying drawings forming part of this application in which similar reference characters indicate like parts .in the several views, and in which Figure 1 is a plan view of the device, Fig. 2 is a side view. Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 33 of Fig. 1, Fig. 41 is a perspective view of one of the oscillating is a sectional; view on the line 55 of Fig. 1, Fig. 6 is detail sectional view showing a packing ring.

abutment members, Fig. 5

for the oscillating abutment, Fig. 7 is a sec" tional view along the line 7-7 of Fig. 1, or 7--7 of Fig. 3, and Fig. 8 is a sectional view showing the construction of one valve.

In carrying out my invention, I provide a main casing consisting of a base portion 1, a cylindrical body portion 2, and an integral extension 3 of said cylindrical body portion, which contains the seats for the.

Surmounting the integral extension 3 is a top 4., which is secured to the extension 3 bv' any suitable means as by bolts-"5 (see Fig. 1).

The base 1 is provided with openings 1 for securing the base to a suitable support. The casing is provided with end members 0 and 7, which are secured by means of bolts Passing through the end members 6 and 7 is the central shaft 9, suitable packing glands 10 being provided at each end to pre vent the escape of motive fluid.

Disposed on the shaft 9 is a cylinder 11 having a series of cam grooves, such as those shown at 12*, 19), 12 and 12 in Fig. 7. The

cylinder 11 has reduced end portions 11 and 11 arranged to bear on the end members 6 and 7, suitable packing strips 13 being interposed.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 1, S and 5, it will be seen that I have provided a series of valves. These valves I have indicated at 1 1, 15, 16 and 17. Each of these valves is constructed in the manner shown in Fig. 8 and a description of one will therefore sufiice for them all. The top 1 is provided with a bore, such as that shown at 4 in Fig. 8, arranged to receive a threaded nut 1. A sleeve 4 is provided which extends through the nut 43. This sleeve has a valve Z) at one end, and is provided with holding means at at the other. A spring 4. surrounds the sleeve and bears on the valve at one end and on the nut P at the other end. A rod 18 passes through the portion 8 of the casing and is threaded to engage the It will be seen that if the handle 18 of the rod 18 is turned while the sleeve 41. is prevented from turning by holding the part 4", the rod 18 will be moved rela tively to the valve b either inwardly or outwardly according to the direction in which it is turned. The tension of the spring at on the valve may be increased or decreased by turning the nut 4:. Referring now to Fig. 1, it will be seen that I have shown therein an inlet pipe 19 for the entrance of steam or other suitable motive fluid. This inlet pipe is controlled by means of a valve 20 so as to admit motive fluid through the pipe 21 and passage 22 in the top 1 to the valve chambers 23 of the valves 16 and 17. The valve 20 may be turned to admit motive fluid through the pipe 2 1 and the passage 25 into the valve chamber 26 of the valves 141 and 15.

Integral with the cylindrical portions 11 and 11 are the respective pistons27 on one side of the cylinder 11 and 28 on the other side. These pistons "27 and 28, it will be oh- 1 served from Fig. 3, are disposed at 180 .through the portion 3 apart. They are both provided with packing strips such'as those shown at 2 on their edges and at their ends. Arranged to cooperate with the pistons 27 and 28 are oscillating abutments such as those shown at 29 and 30. In Fig. 3 I have shown one of these abutments which is designed to co operate with the piston 27. The other abutment is similarly constructed. Both abutments are mounted on a rod 31, which passes of the casing (see Fig. 5). The construction of these abutments is best shown in Fig. 4. They con sist of curved arms having rollers, such as those shown at it) at their ends to lessen the friction. Each of these abutment memhers is mounted in a recessed portion 32 in the part 3 of the casing. Each end of the abutment member is arranged to engage a cushioning spring, such as that shown at 1 In Fig. 6 I have shown the means for preventing the escape of the motive fluid past the abutment member. This means consists of a packing ring3a. which is held by a which controls the valve 17 is spring 35 against the abutment member 29, which is mounted on the shaft 31. It will be seen that this shaft 31 extends into the end member 6. The abutment member 30 is similarly mounted, and is provided with a packing ring similar to that shown at 34.

It will be observed, from Fig. 5, that inlet passages 36 extend from the valve chambers downwardly and outwardly. These passages have openings 37 (see Fig. 3 into the recessed portion 32 of the casing 3. EX- haust ports 38, 38*, 38 and 38 are also provided which lead from the chamber 32 in which the oscillating abutment members 29 and 30 are disposed. The shaft 9 is mounted in bearings 39 carried on brackets 4L0 secured to the end members 6 and 7. Fly wheels all are provided at the ends of the shaft '9.

From the foregoing description of the various. parts of the device the operation thereof may be readily understood.

The cam grooves 12 12 12 and 12 are arranged on circles which are eccentric with the shaft 9. An inspection of Fig. 5 will show one of these grooves. In this figure, it will be seen that the end of the rod 18 pushed upwardly, while the end of the rod which controls the valve 15 is down in the 'groove 12, represented by the dotted line in Fig. 5. Now the valves 14 and 15 have their cam rods in the grooves 12 and 12 respectively (see Fig. 7). Therefore when one of these valves is up or open, the other is down or closed. The valves 16 and 17 have their valve stems in the. grooves 12 and 12* resp cti lm. s h t when. one of the e valves up. or open. he o e is: d w r. closed;-

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being used the engine will run inone direction, and when the other valves 16 and 17 are being used the engine will run in the opposite direction. Let us suppose that the valve 20 (see Fig. l) is set so that steam comes in through the pipe 21 and passage 22 leading to the valves 16 and 17. The steam will pass into the valve chamber 23 (see Fig. thence downwardly through the passage 36 and out through the opening 37 (see Fig. 3). Let us assume that the oscillating abutment and the piston 27 are in the position shown in Fig. 3. The steam will tend to expand. It cannot get out of the exhaust passage 38" leading from the chamber 32, because this exhaust passage is closed by the valve 42. As the steam expands the piston 27 is driven around in the direction indicated by thearrow and the exhaust steam is driven before it out through the exhaust pipe 38*, and thence through the exhaust pipe 43 leading to the exhaust 44 (see Fig. l). lVhen the piston 27 gets to a position 180 from that shown in Fig. 3, then the piston 28 has just passed under the abutment member 30 and the valve 16 has operated to permit. the entrance of steam so as to drive around the piston 28 in the manner already described in connection with the piston 27. As the abutmcnts swing from side to side the springs 33 cushion the movement. If now it is desired to reverse the engine, the handle of the valve 20, which controls the inlets, and the handle of the valve 42, which controls the outlets, are shifted so as to permit steam to enter through the pipes 24; and the passage 25 into the valve chambers of the valves 14 and 15 and to open the exhaust passages of the valves 16 and 17, while closing the exhaust passages of the valves 14 and 15. This will now cause the steam to enter on the opposite sides of the abutment valves from that described in the first operation, so that these valves will be rotated or oscillated in opposite directions. The pistons are now driven in the opposite directions, since the steam goes from the opposite side and is exhausted through the opposite side from that described previously.

It will thus be seen that I have provided a device in which the mere turning of the valves of the inlet and exhaust pipes will cause the engine to reverse its movement. The valves are positively actuated by the cams, so as to permit the entrance of steam precisely at the moment it is wanted.

I claim:

1. In a rotary engine, a casing, a shaft extending through said casing, a cylinder provided with cam grooves, a series of valves ha ing; tems rr g d o ente id a g oo es, a. pist disp ed on e ch side. o a d. ylind r. a. chamber Q1 h. side-o said cylinderfan oscillatingabutmentdisposed in each of said chambers, each end of said abutment being arranged to be brought into engagement With its individual piston and each of said valves controlling a passage leading into one of said chambers.

2. In a rotary engine, a casing, a shaft extending through said casing, a cylinder provided With cam grooves, a series of valves having stems arranged to enter said cam grooves, a piston disposed on each side of said cylinder, a chamber on each side of said cylinder, an oscillating abutment disposed in each of said chambers, an inlet passage controlled by one of said valves leading into each of said chambers on each side of its oscillating valve, and an exhaust passage on each side of said chambers.

3. In a rotary engine, a casing, a shaft extending therethrough, a pair of pistons for said shaft, a series of valves, means disposed between said piston for operating said valves, an oscillating abutment for each piston, passages controlled by certain of said valves for delivering motive fluid on one side of each of said abutments for driving the engine in one direction, and similar pas sages for delivering motive fluid on the other side of said abutments for driving the engine in the reverse direction.

4;. In a rotary engine, a casing, a shaft extending therethrough, a cam cylinder disposed Within said casing, a chamber on each side of said cam cylinder, an oscillating abutment member disposed Within each of said chambers, an inlet for motive fluid into each of said chambers on each side of said oscillating abutment, a valve for controlling each of said inlets, said valve being operated by said cam cylinder, and a pair of exhaust pipes extending from each chamber.

5. In a rotary engine, a casing, a shaft extending therethrough, a cam cylinder disposed Within said casing, a chamber on each side of said cam cylinder, an oscillating abutment member disposed Within each of said chambers, an inlet for motive fluid into each of said chambers on each side of said oscillating abutment, a valve for controlling each of said inlets, said valve being operated by said cam cylinder, a pair of exhaust pipes extending from each chamber, means for simultaneously cutting off the motive fluid from one pair of said valves and admitting it to the other pair, and means for simultaneously closing one pair of the exhausts and for opening the other pair.

6. In a rotary engine, a casing, a piston disposed Within said casing, said piston comprising a cylindrical central portion and laterally extending arms arranged to engage the Wall of the casing, a shaft extending through the center of said cylindrical portion of the piston, a packing strip on one side of said piston extending radially of said shaft, a packing strip at the end of said piston, an are shaped oscillating abutment member arranged to cooperate With said piston, each end of said abutment member being provided with a roller arranged toen gage said piston, and springs disposed above the ends of said abutment member for taking up the motion of said abutment member.

7. In a rotary engine, a casing, a central shaft ext-ending through said casing, a central cam cylinder carried by said shaft, pistons on each side of said cam cylinder, said pistons extending in opposite directions, a single oscillating abutment member disposed on each side of said cam cylinder, one end of said abutment members being arranged to engage its individual piston during the for- Ward movement of the piston, and the other being arranged to engage the piston during the reverse movement.

8. In a rotary engine, a casing, a central shaft extending through said casing, a central cam cylinder carried by said shaft, pistons on each side of said cam cylinder, said pistons extending in opposite directions, a single oscillating abutment member disposed on each side of said cam cylinder, one end of said abutment members being arranged to engage its individual piston during the for Ward movement of the piston, and the other being arranged to engage the piston during the reverse movement, and means for effecting the reverse movement of the piston and for simultaneously shifting the abutments to bring the opposite end of the abutments into engagement With their respective pistons.

9. In a rotary engine, a casing, a central shaft extending through said casing, a central cam cylinder carried by said shaft, pistons on each side of said cam cylinder, said pistons extending in opposite directions, a single oscillating abutment member disposed on each side of said cam cylinder, one end of said abutment members being arranged to engage its individual piston during the for- Ward movement of the piston, and the other being arranged to engage the piston during the reverse movement, means for effecting the reverse movement of the piston and for simultaneously shifting the abutments to bring the opposite end of the abutments into engagement With their respective pistons, said means comprising inlets for admitting fluid pressure on either side of the pivotal point of said oscillating abutments, and valve for controlling said inlet passages.

EDGAR FLIGH GIROD. Witnesses:

PAT S. HAMILTON, J. W. KILBOURNE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. G. 

